


Time of Stars

by fairyalchemist



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Angst, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Happy Ending, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, in progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-08 01:33:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7738072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairyalchemist/pseuds/fairyalchemist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Synopsis: Lucy Heartfilia is a poor innovative scientist looking for a steady job before her landlord decides to kick her out to the curb. Upon admiring the shops in the Port of Hargeon, she stumbles on a rumor that the great Salamander is roaming around the area showing his audience just exactly what an innovative scientist can do. A man that could master the elements? How exciting! She hopes to ask this Salamander for help looking for a job at his guild but little does she know, that a strange man with an even stranger blue cat will be the ones to actually change her life forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Port of Hargeon

**Author's Note:**

> Pairing: Natsu Dragneel & Lucy Heartfilia
> 
> A/N: Progressive. Rating may change, who knows? This story starts off like FT, where Natsu finds Lucy and wants her to join him in FT, but there is a twist.

PORT OF HARGEON

“How much would this one be?” Lucy looked at the beautiful dress in front of her. The silver translucent fabric blended into the midnight blue below it to form an exquisite visually pleasing effect. It looked like there were stars twinkling in the fabric and Lucy was mesmerized.

“It will be fifty jule, but if you add the matching parasol, I’ll give you a discount and give you both for sixty jule,” the girl behind the counter looked excited at the prospect of a purchase.

“Damn,” Lucy cursed under her breath for her terrible luck. She checked her purse for the money she had been slowly spending on necessities. Her last job helping out an old woman move her belongings around her home had provided enough for the week, and that week was just about to end. The small jobs she could do around this port town were not enough. She had to keep looking for a steadier job and this town had no real need of people like her at the moment. There was no guild in this port and she was out of time.

The coins in her hand were all she had left, forty jule, sure the dress was beautiful but an expense like this could wait. It was only wishful thinking on her part. Besides, there was no way she was going to be able to get the money she needed by the end of the day and what would she even need a dress like this for? Perhaps she could come later, she thought, when she had a steady job at a guild nearby. Pretty dresses and shiny baubles could wait. “I’m sorry but I won’t be able to buy this today, thank you for your time,” she told the girl as made her way outside.

“Have a nice day,” the shopkeeper gave her a pitying smile and Lucy felt embarrassed at what had just transpired. She hated being this low on funds, but if she could live a life without being reliant on anyone but herself for the means to survive, then being poor was better than being a secondhand thought. And there were people worse off than she was.

Having a roof over her head and food in her belly were more important than buying a beautiful dress. Lucy groaned at her misfortune. At least she had her health, right? A sneeze of objection coursed through her body, defying her. Was she getting sick? Lucy groaned even louder, If she got sick that would be the cherry on top of the ice cream of calamity that was her life.

The little things were the important things right now, she realized as she walked through the merchant street, taking in all the colors, the smells of the food on display, the sounds of the men on the boats laughing at each other and screaming commands, and the feeling of a salty ocean breeze on her face.

Hargeon was a merchant port where goods from all over Fiore and the kingdoms surrounding it could be found. Everything from fish, jewelry, clothes and anything inbetween could be bought here.

Lucy glanced at the sight in front of her. The port stores were to her left, the glimmering blue sea to her right, and the path to something better lay ahead. She concentrated on everything and tried to memorize it all as the sunshine glowed warmth on her skin.

Fiore’s mighty ships were docked on the water, creating shadows on the shops below and providing some shade from the sun. It was a nice warm day and the breeze from the ocean and the spray it provided had a soothing effect.

“Did you hear that that mad scientist they call Slugamander or something is at the park showing one of his crazy inventions?” Lucy heard a young girl tell one of her companions as they viewed one of the displays by a shop called Erias’s Trinket Shop.

The second girl answered. “It’s Salamander, not Slugamander. He’s from that crazy Fairy Tail Guild from Magnolia, I heard they’re all as crazy as it gets.”

“Crazy or not, I heard that he’s a specimen to behold!” The first girl giggled to her friend, who in turn giggled as well.

“I think we should take a quick look, don’t you?” A third girl asked her companions as she exited the shop the first two had been looking at. All three girls tacitly agreed and made their way to the park.

Lucy was curious to see who exactly this man was, she had heard stories of him and the new innovative scientists of the era who were pushing science and technology to its limits, melding it with magical elements to create amazing things and dominate everything on the earth.

Sure, she was not one of these official guild ‘scientists’, if anything, she considered herself a freelancer who had hopes of joining an official guild. If she could get Salamander to see her abilities, perhaps he could help her join his guild.

Salamander’s guild, Fairy Tail, was notorious for being a bit too wild to some people’s tastes though that did not matter much to Lucy, a guild was a guild.

Guilds provided sanctuary for those who joined. They were also the path to a job. And that’s exactly what she needed.

Steeling herself for the chance of a lifetime, Lucy squared her shoulders and took a deep breath as she decided to follow the girls to the park. With her luck, this may as well be the only chance to join a guild that she would ever get.


	2. THE PARK

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: Lucy is a poor freelance innovative scientist at the port of Hargeon, wonders where she’ll get her next job. She then hears some girls talk about the great Salamander and she then hopes that he might help her get a steady job at a guild. At the park where this Salamander is showing his power she meets another scientist that quickly unveils this said Salamander’s ruse.

**THE PARK**

“Young ladies, behold! The power of the Great Salamander who shall show you the wonders of the world!” Gasps rang out as Lucy made her way to the crowd swarmed around Salamander. A dark mist surrounded him as he began levitating a few feet off the ground. “Please gather ‘round, m’dears…”

“Oh, Salamander, I love you!” A girl shrieked to Lucy’s right, making Lucy’s ears pay the price.

“Please marry me!” Another girl shrieked to Lucy’s left and she was beginning to regret making the decision to be here in the first place.

“Ladies, ladies…please,” Salamander tried to placate the crowd as he levitated back down, the mist spread to the onlookers, and a warmth spread over Lucy, her vision blurred for a moment. A frisson of awareness electrified her senses and at that moment she could admit to herself this gentleman was extremely handsome.

He wore a long eccentric purple coat, almost like a royal purple, and his hair was a beautiful eye catching electric blue, reminding her of the color that she had seen on display at a fabric shop once.

Lucy felt her heart skip a beat.

Love at first sight was real.

This man was the love of her life.

She could feel it.

“Oh dear, dear lovely Salamander,” Lucy sighed to herself as she made her way closer to her love. He was a genius. A prodigy. A handsome man with unparalleled qualities. The embodiment of male perfection. 

“Hey, make way! Salamander? Hey! You! Have you seen Igneel?” A loud man made his way through the screaming women to the center where Salamander stood.  “Hey, where’s Igneel? Have you seen him?” The interrupter looked out of place in the throng of women but was unfazed by the absurdity of his question. His hair instantly caught Lucy’s attention. It was the strangest shade of pink she had ever seen.

He also had a long dark wooden cane in one hand, with a crimson orb of flames inside, a magical item that looked specifically made for him.

“Who the bloody hell are you?” The intruder asked as the crowd quieted to take in the spectacle.

Lucy’s wits returned somehow and she realized that Salamander had somehow muddled the women’s minds to make them fall in love with him. She had read something about these spells in a book once, they were usually activated by the wielder’s touch and were made to be something that could be worn for easier access.

“I’m the great Salamander! How dare you ask such a question? I think it would be obvious to a low brow nothing like you!” Salamander started to levitate once more, higher than before, as if to show his standing in society was superior to the man before him. He proceeded to grab a notebook in his coat, scribbling something on it before dropping the paper to the man below. “Here, this is my autograph as a proof you have met the great Salamander, now leave before I show you what a real scientist can do!”

The gentleman below was somehow able to catch the paper and looked at the autograph for a second before it burst to flames in his hand. 

“What the hell? Oh, now I see,” he said as he made his way to a small table in the center of the audience. “You’re not Salamander, you’re a fake,” he growled at the man above him.

“How dare you!” Salamander raised his hand and threw a blast of electricity down at his new opponent.

“Is that the best you can do?” The man replied as he raised his cane and deflected the attack with a flick of his wrist.

The man threw another blast, this time made of wind. “Of course not.”

“This is getting boring,” the man below easily deflected that attack as well and threw a blast of flames that combined with the wind to make a swirling dangerous flame.

As the flames swirled, presumably to his command, he walked closer to the table beside him. “What’s this?” He asked as he looked around Salamander’s tools and trinkets and grabbed a golden orb like object. Lucy knew exactly what that was.It was a levitation orb, a cheaply made item that anyone could buy at a specialty shop for a low price. They were extremely effective in helping any user practice their levitating skills. “See? You’re a fake.” The man sniffed the air. “You even smell like one,” he continued, “I despise people who trick others for their own amusement.” A smash rang through the air as he threw the orb to the ground while making it burst into flames with his powers.

Lucy then realized that the false Salamander had been using the levitation orb as a way to spread a love mist to the crowd below him. There, she could see on the impostor’s hand, a ring was emitting the dark substance.

The women around her began regaining a sense of clarity as the foggy substance disappeared.

“You bastard!” Lucy screamed as she made her way to the center of the spectacle. She grabbed the false Salamander’s hand and yanked the ring from his finger. “How dare you use this on innocent people,” she shrieked as she grabbed her broken parasol, aimed it at the stone and concentrated her power, breaking the repulsive magical item. “You’re despicable! Using a magical item to make women fall in love with you, disgusting!”

Lucy knew the consequences of being under a love spell herself, and she would never wish that sort of experience on anyone, even her worst enemy.

She looked around to see some of the love spell’s victims begin to leave as they realized what had truly transpired and a few were still roaming about, crying at the thought they had been betrayed by the one man who had invaded their thoughts for so long. Depending on the strength of the spell, it could take hours to wear off on some, while others like her could break the spell simply by knowledge of its use or other less probably ways.

A fist suddenly flew within Lucy’s vision-too quick for her to realize what it was-as it made its way to the impostor’s face. “That one’s for being a liar,” the pink haired man said as he gave him another blow, “and this one is for my own amusement.”

“I’m sorry!” The false Salamander squealed at the two people who had unveiled his ruse. “I’m sorry!”

“Are you really?” She said as she hit him on the head with enough force to give him a good painful throbbing bruise for a week. “Now get out of here or I’ll really break your head this time!” He promptly ran away from her, forgetting all of his belongings in the process, a table full of trinkets that could be used for rotten purposes if one had the desire to.

She should have given him to the police but even she would spare him from the gallows if she could. There was no fate worse than going to jail without a means of protecting yourself and this impostor was obviously not skilled enough to do that, but neither was she. Lucy had her own share of experiences with the law and this was too trivial to condemn a man like that.

A shout rang through the crowd and people began to disperse as another shout alerted them that the police were approaching, Lucy began to panic at the impending cost of what a bailing bond would be if they accused her of inciting violence in public. The numbers made her heart hurt.

She couldn’t afford to go to jail again, not now, she thought as she looked at the objects on the table, a seeing orb, a silly portal mirror, a color changing cloth, none of them could get her out of this predicament. These were just trivial trinkets. Nothing truly extraordinary.

Lucy thought for a second how she could get out of this predicament. Maybe if she just told the police what had happened they would believe her, right? She was, after all a delicate lady with a poor constitution and these men were rowdy evil doers who knew nothing but violence…

She laughed to herself at the thought. Who was she kidding? With her luck, she’d be put in jail for looking too poor, some of the police loved to harass those they thought of as too weak to fight back, and she couldn’t fight back, not now when her powers were barely developed.

“Thank you for helping me out,” the man said as he made his way to Lucy, breaking her dark train of thought. “You really were great. Did you see his face when you broke the ring? It was hilarious!” He started to laugh hysterically, tears streamed down his cheeks as his guffaws rang loudly around them. “By the way, what’s your name?” He asked her as he calmed down and wiped the tears from his cheeks with his arm.

“Lucy.”

“Lucy,” his brows furrowed in thought as he extended his hand toward her. “Well, thank you again Lady Lucy for all your help.”

“You’re welcome?” She wasn’t sure what he was thanking her for, she hadn’t exactly done anything worthy of such praise, had she?

“You were great!” He gave her a smile as he looked around the chaos of the moment. “My name is Natsu. No formal title, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Lucy looked at the man before her. Really looked at him. He was tall, tall enough that she had to raise her head to look at him properly in the eyes. His eyes. They were a dark color, almost as black as the night sky with flecks of green in them and his hair was the strangest pink she had ever seen. Upon closer inspection she could see it glimmered in the sun, some darker strands looked almost red and in a way they reminded her of a flame’s flickering at its brightest.

How strange, she thought. He wore a long dark red coat with shimmering golden buttons and designs around and it was nothing like she had ever seen before. He looked presentable enough, almost as if he took care of his appearance just enough to pass through society’s strict protocol. He wasn’t an elite, Lucy knew enough of that side of society to know that. He wasn’t extremely poor either. She looked down at her own dress and instantly felt self-conscious of her own appearance. How pitiable she must look in contrast to this man.

“Thank you?” She said again unsure of herself, her own thoughts, and this odd conversation.

The shouts around them became louder as more officers closed in on them and Lucy’s anxiety returned.

“Well, I guess it’s time to get out of here,” Natsu looked around as he called out to someone in the crowd, “Happy, let’s go!” Suddenly, an exotic looking blue furred cat appeared from seemingly nowhere to make its way to its master’s shoulder as he began to make his way away from the police officers. He looked back to Lucy and extended his hand to her. “Hey, are you coming with us or not?”

“What?”

“I can tell by that look on your face you’re not fond of being caught by the police. Am I wrong?”

“No, but I…” She hesitated, this man was a stranger, she was a young woman who was possibly going to jail, and the odds were against her either way. It was either go to jail or be killed by a stranger. He didn’t look like a killer. But that was what dead people probably thought before they died.

Officers on horses made their way down the park, batons in hand as they harassed the people who were trying to escape the blows, shrieks rang out and echoed around the park. 

“Stop right there!” An officer shouted at them as he made his way to where they stood. “Halt!”

“Let’s go then!” Natsu grabbed Lucy’s hand with his own and squeezed it in reassurance. His cane and satchel suddenly shrunk in size as he put them in his pocket. “Sorry officer,” he shouted at the man on horseback as he walked backward a few steps, “but I told the old man I would make it in time for the guild’s anniversary party and there’s no way I will miss that.”

Natsu then raised his right hand as an orb of fire encircled it. He then lowered his arm sideways, creating a line of fire between them and the officer. Lucy looked around and saw the extent of his power. He hadn’t just made a straight line of fire, he had encircled all the officers with their own individual wall of flames, keeping them away from harming those outside.

“I truly am sorry, but there’s no way I’m going to jail again, the old man will have a cardiac arrest if we keep asking him to bail us out,” Natsu shouted across the flames.

“You’re in a guild?” Lucy asked the man beside her as hope spread like wildfire in her heart.

“Yes?”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Lucy hesitated, unsure of herself and what this twist of fate could mean for her future, should she ask to join or would that be too presumptuous? This was a man who knew how to control elemental fire, who was part of a guild where there were more people like him, who could be the path for her to a better future. She grew nervous at the thought of asking him if she could join. Could it really be that easy?

“Would you like to join?” Natsu suddenly asked her as the flames flickered beside them.

Lucy’s heart skipped a beat and she hesitated, baffled that it really  _could_ be that easy. This man was so bizarre, she thought and paused, she was a weird one herself and was sure not being fair.

“Well, that’s a yes for me, let’s go!” He grabbed her hand and walked as he looked back to her. The cat on his shoulders gave a loud shriek as they ran away from the commotion, hand in hand. “No time to waste!”  He said as his smile ignited hope in her heart for the future. 


	3. ANCHOR BAY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsu has convinced Lucy to join his guild but blunders by being a clueless social idiot. He looks for Lucy in Anchor Bay, a spotty part of Hargeon and a place where no one should be living in. Natsu really doesn’t know what to make of this girl and he’s even more at a loss as to what to do about himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it (:

**ANCHOR BAY**

_“I don’t know about this, Natsu. You really think she thought about this before you just yanked her hand and dragged her with us?”_

Natsu looked at the girl in question behind him. Had he really done something stupid again? It didn’t feel like it had been a bad decision. One look at her face, big brown eyes all sad and sullen, had told him that she needed a friend.

Earlier at the park, she had reminded him of himself when he had wandered around all alone with no one to help him and he couldn’t just leave her to the unknown. Lucy had shown courage when facing that Salamander earlier, and that had made him like her even more. He didn’t doubt those at the guild would too. And if they didn’t, well his fists could convince them.

“Don’t worry about it. I got this.” He told Happy, the blue haired feline currently riding his shoulder and best friend.

“Got what?” Lucy replied as they slowed down an alley. She furrowed her brows as she massaged her temples. “I know this was a partially hasty decision, Mr. Natsu, but can we by any chance pass by my house to get my things and maybe rest for a bit?”

“Of course, where do you live?”

She looked away, her cheeks turned pink. “On Anchor Bay Boulevard.”

Natsu’s blood turned hot as he realized the street she lived in was the talk of the town. According to some villagers, that street was an extremely dangerous place to be in, the worst sorts of people lived there and because of the rampant crime, the police didn’t dare venture there without the royal scientists at their backs. What the hell was she doing in a place like that?

“What the hell are you doing in a place like that?” He asked her as he clenched his fists in frustration. Sure, she could hold her own against a stupid joker of a Salamander, but against criminals that knew how to battle, she was severely at a disadvantage. He sensed she needed guidance in her technique and that the guild would be the best place for her to get it.

Natsu had only briefly passed through Anchor Bay himself, and what he had seen had pissed him off to no end. He had gone just yesterday to help out a nice old woman who had asked for his help. She had needed her stove repaired and he had helped her for free.

What he had seen, the sick prostitutes, rampant gang members and filching children had unsettled him.

Anchor Bay was a terrible place to live in Hargeon, no other place as much a contrast to the lavish houses of the rich by the port.

“Well it’s not like I had a better option! And I don’t answer to you, buddy, so shut it!” Was that tears he saw in her eyes?  Just as he moved to grab her hand, she twisted away from him and started running away from him. Fast.

 _“You’ve really done it now, doofus.”_ Happy laughed at this new turn of events. Natsu tried to catch up to her but his body wouldn’t cooperated. He had pushed himself hard these past few days. Damn, she was a fast runner.  “ _You’re going to lose her if you don’t hurry!”_ Happy jumped off his shoulder and started running ahead of him.

They disappeared in the distance and Natsu took a minute to mentally grasp a hold of the situation. If she lived in such a terrible place, why would she run away from him? Had he said something he shouldn’t have?

Gray, one of his more annoying guild mates had once told him he was as clueless as it could get, but Natsu would beg to differ. At times, Gray was the epitome of idiotic, especially around Juvia, another one of Fairy Tail’s members. But that was beside the point.

Natsu groaned as he rubbed his temples just like Lucy had earlier, figuring out his social transgressions never failed to make his head throb in pain. He was going to have to ask someone, maybe Mira or Happy to explain this to him later.

He turned at a corner and looked ahead. There. Anchor Boulevard was not that far now. If he remembered correctly, it was about a mile stretch of extremely dilapidated housing and sketchy shops. He was going to have to roam about until he caught a hint of either Happy or Lucy’s scent. He hoped the smells around him hadn’t dampened their potency or that his oversensitive nose would wish he were smelling Gray’s unmentionables instead. Natsu shook his head from the unpleasant thought.

After a block of roaming around, he caught Lucy’s smell, the unmistakable scent of jasmine and something else, it was faint, but grew stronger as he followed it. Natsu neared an entrance to a questionable house and walked inside and found Lucy in a room he assumed she had rented for herself. It small, looked more like a small closet than anything. The place looked old, worse than the outside- cobwebs were on the ceiling, bugs roamed everywhere, the wood looked like it was about to rot- worse than Natsu had ever seen.

Lucy was sitting on the small space on the floor by the bed with Happy on her lap.

“What are _you_ doing here?” She sniffed, rubbed her eyes and looked at Natsu in a way that made him want to punch whoever had made her live in such a condition. Didn’t she have any friends or family that could have helped her?

“Thanks for finding her for me,” he told Happy as he walked across the small room toward them.

 _“No problem, buddy,”_ Happy jumped off Lucy’s lap and made his way to the other side of the room.

Natsu looked at the girl in front of him. “I came for you, Lucy.” He knelt down in front of her, making them both equals. “I almost lost you…”

“I didn’t ask you to follow me,” she sniffled as she rubbed a small handkerchief over her nose.

“Well I had to, you know. I promised to take you to my guild, after all.”

“Why would you even want me in your guild?” Uncertainty was etched all over her face, and Natsu felt like an ass for making her sad.

“Because I care and I’m your friend and friends don’t leave each other behind.”

Just then, Lucy started crying even harder, tears streamed down her cheeks and Natsu was at a loss. As he moved closer, he lifted a hand and paused, silently asking for permission before he wiped her tears from her cheeks and gently forced her to look at him. His calloused hands had never touched a girl like this before. She was soft, more than the flowers he helped Azura pick in Mira’s small garden.

He hesitated.

Damn, her eyes were beautiful, a dark brown with flecks of hazel and green in them. Just then, a strand of hair came loose and he moved it to the back of her ear, golden and like silk to the touch. Natsu was in trouble. His mind turned blank as he almost forgot what to say.

What was he going to say again?

“ _Nice going, dooofus!”_ Happy interrupted them as he jumped around Lucy’s bed and the pitiable furniture around the room. ” _Don’t you think we should be going soon? The old man is going to have a conniption if we don’t get there on time.”_

Lucy jumped up as she screamed and frantically looked around for the source of the voice. “Who the hell was that?”

“Relax,” he told her as he straightened himself and raised his hands to let her know they weren’t in danger. “It’s just Happy.”

“What…who’s happy?”

“No, that’s his name… Happy.” He pointed to the cat in question. “That blue hairball jumping on the bed behind you…”

Lucy’s eyes widened as she realized just how strange her guests really were. “Your cat can talk?”

 _“Hey, I resent that! I’m no one’s cat!”_ Happy kept jumping on the bed and pawing the wooden posters. “ _Nice to you meet you too, human.”_ He stressed ‘human’ just enough for them to understand his irritation.

“Sorry,” Lucy stared at them like they had sprouted wings and Natsu stifled a laugh, he wouldn’t tell her about _that_ until later.

“He can talk to those he wants to talk to. Usually guild members, people he likes, or hates.” He moved to lean against the door frame and crossed his arms and legs. He needed space between them, space to breathe and not feel odd.

“What guild _are_ you in?” Lucy asked him as she sat down on her bed.

Natsu hesitated as he realized he hadn’t told her yet. He had pride in his guild, sure, but he wasn’t certain what sorts of things Lucy had heard about them. “Uh…Fairy Tail… but before you…”

He tried to quell the incoming outrage but she interrupted him. “Are you serious?” Her face lit up and he thought she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. “I can’t believe this… I mean I knew you were eccentric from the beginning, but to know you’re in Fairy Tail… It all makes sense. I mean you’re as crazy as it gets.” She started to laugh hysterically and Natsu had no idea if it was a good thing or not. He thought she was taking this revelation better than most.

“So what’s your nickname?” She continued, “I know that the papers gave you all weird pseudonyms once as a joke, but I think some of them were really great.” She started ticking off her fingers. “Titania Fairy Queen, The Demon Queen, The Lightning Beast, The Ice Mage, how brilliant. Let me guess…” She concentrated as she tried to guess what name they had designated to Natsu and as recognition hit her, amusement struck her face. Almost like the face a person makes when they come across something that smells bad, but they can’t stop smelling it, surprise and fear and hilarity all in one.  

Natsu gave her a big mischievous smile. She really was something else.

“ _Salamander, the fire breather!”_ Happy erupted in laughter as he leaped around Lucy on her bed. “ _It really fits him don’t you think?”_

“Oh my god!” Lucy raised her hands to cover her laugher as she realized that the real notorious and dangerous Salamander was in her room. “Honestly! You should have said so at the park to shut that other man up. Can you imagine the look on his face? It would have been priceless!”

“No one would have believed me… Besides, I don’t like going around boasting that I’m _that_ Salamander. I’m crazy, but not that crazy.” He wagged his eyebrows at her. “And just think of the reward. I would probably turn myself in for that amount of jule.”

“Oh, I don’t know if they wouldn’t believe…” She paused in thought. “Well, you _did_ go around spewing fire everywhere.” She looked up and down at his profile. “With that coat and that hair, people would definitely think you’re… eccentric…” She giggled as she blushed and looked away from him.

Clearing her throat Lucy moved to get her suitcase beside her bed. “So, I’ve decided.” She said made her way to her small closet across the room and Natsu’s heart sped up at what he knew was coming. “I’m going with you.”


	4. Natsu's Math Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy and Natsu find themselves hungry and stop at a restaurant to get a bite to eat before heading off to the train station.

Determined, Lucy walked with Natsu toward the train station. Her small satchel and the clothes on her back had become the testament of her struggles, and the smiles that Natsu and Happy gave her as they walked were what kept her worries at bay. 

The sky was darkening as the sun was setting and she could see dazzling blends of colors, reds and pinks and purples over the horizon. Even the sun looked stunning, like a fiery scarlet disc behind the clouds.

“What time is the train leaving?” She asked Natsu, afraid that they would miss it and have to stay overnight in a city in which she had no more ties.

Natsu looked at his watch, it was a curious looking thing with different color dials and multiple time recording devices all put into one. “Well, it’s seven… uh…thirty now…. I think it leaves at nine.”

“You think?” Her eyebrows rose at him. “You _think_?” She stressed to him that one word, hoping he’d ease her worries.

“Let me check,” he opened his bag and took a small timetable out. “Hmm… yeah, see here,” he leaned closer to her as he showed her the booklet, Happy was on his shoulder and the fur from his tail tickled her face. “Port of Hargeon. Three. Six. Nine. Looks like we have almost two hours until the next one!”

“Okay then, should we just wait at the station?” She didn’t want to bring more attention to themselves, not when there could be police officers looking for them. 

“No, that would be too boring.” His stomach growled, and he looked at Lucy mischievously. “Would you like to stop by somewhere to grab a bite to eat?” Natsu motioned to a small restaurant as they neared the station.

Happy jumped off Natsu’s shoulders to run circles around them.

_“Oh hell yeah! Let’s go! Wow! I can smell salmon and catfish and delicious tuna. Natsu! Natsu! Natsu!”_

“What, Happy?”

_“I will now require payment for past services, Natsu. The debt incurred shall be nullified as of the time I have a full belly. I want fifty fishes, raw and delicious. NOW!”_

“What? You’re joking, right? I don’t even remember owing you fifty fishes!” He gasped at his friend and Lucy swore there was a hint of feigned outrage in his voice. “Tell me, when did I ever do something to owe you so many!”

_The cat paused, and looked at his friend with anger in his eyes. “Well there was that time you wanted to hide all of Gray’s clothes and you couldn’t think of a good place. And that other time I took the blame for you from Erza when she caught you sneaking around the girl’s locker room. And the time you hid Gildart’s secret pile and you had to fly fast enough to get out of his range. And that other time I had to find Lucy for you. So, yeah, I’d say that covers me for the rest of my life.”_

“Okay, okay. I get it,” he winked at Lucy, “I think I’ll but you one hundred fishies if you never repeat what you have said to another soul gain. Deal?

_“Aye, Sir!”_

“Are you sure it’s not a bother?” Lucy felt a flush of embarrassment as she realized she was severely underdressed to go inside such a glitzy place.

He looked at her with understanding and concern in his face. “Of course not, you’re my new guild-mate after all. It’s something of a tradition to invite new members out to a meal. And, lucky me, I get to be the first to invite you.” His smile is warm and welcoming and Lucy’s uncertainty dims a bit.

As they walk inside, her senses are overwhelmed. Rich smells, flamboyant sounds and warm lighting meld into something a little scary. Most of the people inside are dressed like they were someone important or had somewhere important to be, though she could admit there were a few travelers sprinkled here and there who didn’t act as stiff as the obvious higher class.

“I feel so underdressed.” Lucy whispered to Natsu under her breath, she grabbed her satchel tighter and drew it closer to herself to form an invisible shield.

The waiter was ready for them by the small podium near the entrance and as they neared Lucy could see this wasn’t going to be a pleasant welcome.

“Table for three please,” Natsu told the waiter and Lucy wondered why he couldn’t tell by the waiter’s face that he was going to throw them out.  

“I’m sorry but we don’t allow pets inside.” The waiter pointed at the blue furred cat on Natsu’s shoulders and Lucy could feel her cheeks starting to burn.

Natsu laughed at the waiter. “But Happy isn’t a pet.”

“I’m sure that that thing is a pet.”

“No, I’m pretty sure Happy isn’t my pet.”

“I’m sorry but we can’t service you if you have a pet.”

“Okay.” Natsu moved to stand in front of Lucy, his back to waiter. “Lucy, I’ll be right back. I’ll just put Happy outside…”

“Okay.”

He quickly walked outside and then came back in, bag in hand, he motioned to the waiter to take them to their seat.

As they sat, two menus were put on the small table and they were given a few minutes to look over them. The waiter brought them two cups of water and Lucy was still unsure what to order, but she could see Natsu held no such qualms. “What would you like to eat, sir? Madam?”

“I’ll have one of all of your desserts. Two of your best meat pies. One order of ramen. Two orders of your best homemade soup. Two of your turkey dinner specials. Three dozen garlic breads. Five sushi specials. Oh and fifty of those.. um.. alvarez salmon all wrapped into paper bags. All raw please.”

Lucy spilled the water she had been drinking as the waiter looked at Natsu like he had just admitted to coming from another planet. Her eyes watered as the waiter’s eyes twitched in horror.

“I..i..i…is that all?”

“For me, yes.”

“Is this a joke? Or are you completely serious?” The waiter curled his lip at Natsu, who was completely oblivious to the hostility.

“Oh, I’m completely serious.” Natsu looked at the waiter, sizing him up and looking at him, almost daring him to deny them service.

Sensing that Natsu was no idiot, the waiter turned to Lucy and took her order and then went away to get their food.

Still laughing, Lucy wiped her eyes with the small napkin from the table. “Are you really going to eat all of that?”

“Not _all of it._ At least not the fish, those are Happy’s. Right Happy?” A blue streak of fur discretely popped out of Natsu’s bag.

“ _Right,”_ Happy replied and Lucy completely lost all sense of composure. As her laughter rang through the restaurant, she forgot about being embarrassed and feeling uncertain while the two oddities in front of her looked at her like she’d sprouted a tree on her head.

“Oh lord, I’m going to die of laughter just being with the two of you, aren’t I?” She took deep breaths as the waiter appeared, five helpers behind him, all carrying the food that they, but mostly just Natsu, had ordered.

Happy hid in Natsu’s bag, careful to not be seen. “ _They do say laughter is the best medicine, ya know?”_

As they ate their food, Natsu would offer Lucy a taste of his dishes and sneak Happy fish in small increments. The plates he had ordered were hearty and full of delicious combinations of flavors. She enjoyed tasting things she hadn’t before. But she had also secretly relished the simple chicken vegetable soup she had ordered for herself. She had even offered some to Natsu and Happy but they had adamantly refused, saying that vegetables were poison and that they would rather climb Mt. Hakobe than taste broccoli ever again.

She had never heard of Mt. Hakobe but she doubted it was worse than vegetables.

Once they finished, the waiter gave them the check and briefly left to attend to other customers. Natsu’s face paled at least five shades as he looked at the paper.

“Fifteen hunderd ju…” He whispered, shock in his voice. “Why is it so much?” His eyes pored over the list. “Alvarez salmon costs how _much_! Twenty jule a piece? Oh lord, Happy I’m going to kick your butt when we get out of here!”

The cat laughed maniacally inside the bag as Natsu wrote something on a check.

Lucy struggled to contain her laughter. “Did you even read the prices?”

“Yeah, but I was never really good at math.” He gave the check to the waiter, grabbed his bag and looked at his watch. “Eight forty-five. Let’s go Lucy, before they catch on.”

“Catch on to what?”

“Hey!” The waiter ran toward them, the check in his hand. “I said no pets!”

Happy’s blue little head had popped out of Natsu’s bag and Lucy grabbed her satchel in a death grip as Natsu pulled her out of her chair.

“Oh, shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.” Natsu puffed under his breath as they sprinted to the train station. They lost the waiter and his minions as they made it inside and paid for their ticket. The whistle to board rang just as they entered the platform and they hurried inside the cart.

They entered a small compartment, as they sat facing each other, they both placed their bags on the floor.

“ _If you did what I think you did, man, Makarov is gonna have a stroke.”_ Lucy looked at Happy who had jumped out of the bag and was gnawing on a fish next to Natsu.

Still feeling woozy from the running earlier, she asked the cat what he meant.

 “ _He used a Fairy Tail check to pay for the food. They’re like emergency funds and are only to be used in dire emergencies when our own money can’t get us out of a bind.”_

 _“_ This _was_ an emergency,” Natsu said, feigned betrayal in his voice. His eyes narrowed at his friend. “Don’t you _dare_ say a word to him before he finds out on his own Happy, or I’ll tell Erza what you did to her fishnets.”

“ _Fine_.” The cat extended one of his paws and Natsu shook it, the gravity of the situation had completely flown over her head. She was beginning to be terrified of Erza, even though she had never met her.

“Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

The train lurched forward and as it began to move Natsu’s face turned an unnerving shade of purple.

“Are you okay?” Lucy asked him as he covered his mouth. “Would you like to lay down?”

_“He hates being in trains, motion sickness and all that.”_

“Shurgh ughp, Hurgpu.” Natsu put his head between his knees and Lucy rubbed his back to make him feel better.

“Is there any way I can help?”

He took a deep breath. “No-urgh.”

“How about you stay put and I’ll see what I can get you to help you fall asleep?” He nodded to her as she left the compartment to look for a sleeping potion. She had three jule in her pocket, which should be enough to buy a small dose.

A few moments later, with her mission accomplished, she made her way back to Natsu and gave him the sleeping draught. “Do you have something to put under your head?” He pointed at his satchel before his eyes closed. The liquid had worked instantly and she carefully helped him lay down on his side of the compartment. She tried looking for the small pillow, but it was an extremely difficult thing to do inside a magical satchel. After a few futile minutes, she had resigned herself to ask Happy to look for the pillow, a task which would have been easy had it not been for all the damn alvarez fish he had ordered.

“ _Sorry, Lucy. The fish keep distracting me…I can’t find it.”_

“Thanks for trying…” Without a pillow, she resorted to using her lap as a replacement and she moved to sit next to Natsu and put his head on her lap, hoping that it would help him somehow.

Happy fell asleep not long after that and Lucy’s thoughts drifted to the man below her. She stroked his silken strands between her fingers, careful not to wake him up, they felt softer than she had imagined. He mumbled in his sleep unintelligibly, his face looked so peaceful, almost like a boy's, a stark contrast to when he was awake and full of mischief and laughter. In a sense, he was an enigma, and Lucy wondered what had made him that way. 

She sighed as she looked at darkness outside their window, the stars were hidden by the fog that had crept in from the ocean and she felt a twinge of sadness that she couldn’t see them tonight. They wouldn’t make it to Magnolia until the morning. She smiled as she closed her eyes and the movement of the train finally lulled her into a deep sleep. 

 


End file.
